Random Article


 
Must See..
 

Book of Holes (iOS) Review

 
bookofholes
bookofholes
bookofholes

 
At a Glance...
 

Formats: iOS, iPad
 
Genre: , ,
 
Year:
 
Publisher:
 
Developer:
 
Final Score
7.0
7/ 10


User Rating
no ratings yet

 

We liked?


  • A bit progressive compared to normal children apps
  • Lots of things to click on
  • Features Monty Python-esque animations
  • Story invites discussion

Not so much?


  • Not as polished as other interactive apps
  • One of the holes discussed: the anus, complete with pooping dog.
  • Parents should be aware of what they might be getting into.


Final Fiendish Findings?

The Book of Holes is probably the only children’s interactive story book to include the word “anus” and feature a pooping dog.

1
Posted August 1, 2013 by

 
Full Fiendish Findings...
 
 

The story is, obviously is about holes.  Holes are in everything, it’s explained: buttons, keys, and the human body.  Simple and sweet, right?  Even the narration is cute and childlike.

The story alternates between a page of stylish text followed by a page of interactive Monty Python-like illustrations.  While it’s not overly complex, like other interactive story book apps, it has a decent number of things for kids to touch, followed by a silly sound and/or animation.

Book of Holes (iOS) Review

The book began innocently enough.  The first several pages talked about the holes that were are all around us.

And then I kinda-sorta started to cringe.

The first time I cringed, maybe twinged is a better word, was in that “while-it-doesn’t-bother-me-personally-I’m-too-aware-of-religious-and-political-points-of-view” sort of way when the discussion went from holes being everywhere to the possibility that life and the universe were created by the Big Bang theory.  I could picture parents saying scolding the app, “Don’t you tell my child what to believe!”

The second time I kinda-sorta cringed was when the Book mentioned that “you,” as in my 6-year-old at the time, entered the world through a hole. Oh boy – here we go!  This of course was expertly followed with, “But that’s a long story. Ask your dad…” to which my son looked up to me for a follow-up after I attempted to ignore the story.  I told him I’d tell him later.  That page was followed by a medical cross-section of the pregnant human abdomen, with an expertly placed hole over “the spot.”

I eased up a bit once we movied onto the human face, which included a little mini-game of arranging the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears on a Picasso-esque face.  Everything was going fine.  My son, even started giggling a lot when it came to gross-out stuff of an animated booger flying out of a nostril and bouncing around the screen.  “Okay, you prude,” I said to myself.  “You can lighten up.  You’re being too sensitive.”

And then we came to the page about the butt.

Both the immature 12-year-old in me and the “responsible” 36-year-old parent did a double-take when the book told me about the hole that food comes out.  It has many names, the book told us, one of them is anus.

Book of Holes (iOS) Review

Saaaaaaaay what???!  What did I just hear?!?

My 6-year-old, being an expert on all things poop-talk, broke out into an uncontrollable Goofy-like chortle.  The alarms were going off in my head! Flashes of yellow and red behind my eyes, like the klaxon sirens during a Red Alert on the Starship Enterprise.

I couldn’t believe it!  I debated turning it off, in shock that a children’s book just mentioned, so casually and in a more medically-appropriate way than what I’m about to, the human butthole.  At the same time I was disgusted in my snappy, ultra-conservative reaction.  Bruised but not beaten, I decided to forge ahead.  Besides, we couldn’t stop now — my son wouldn’t let me – we had to see the accompanying picture page.

The next page upped the ante yet again: there was an image of a dog, his tail straight in the air, and his rear end front and center.  The hole, featured on every single page of the book, was right on target.  Right on the dog’s… anus.

My son was in absolutely hysterics with laughter.  It wasn’t just from the image, it was also the animation of poop falling from the hole and landing in a coil on the grass below.  It was like proverbial icing on the proverbial cake.  (Probably not the most appropriate simile in this circumstance.)

We made it through the last 6 pages, which thankfully were not about poop or butts.  The giggling dissipated, we chatted a bit, and then got ready for bed.

Outside of the somewhat squeamish content (for parents) about creationism, the birth canal, and the anus, the story was actually pretty enjoyable, and I liked that it invited discussion between my son and I.  Rather than just have the story read to us, the narrator asked an occasional question about holes, for example, what were some examples of good and bad types of holes.

The Book of Holes, when compared to other interactive story book applications for the iPad, was short and basic, yet is similarly-priced.  While I think you’ll get one helluva ride for your $5, I think there are better, more polished interactive apps in the Apple App Store for the same amount.


Troy Benedict

 


One Comment


  1.  
    Amy Hauck Nelson

    Ahahahahaha! I am foreseeing many request to play the hole book just one more time in your future. Be strong!

      



You must log in to post a comment